Report Visuals not appearing on some machines

[cillroy]

I have created a desktop Report reading a local excel file.

When I copy the excel file and Report to a few other machines, some of them do not show my stock visuals.  On those machines, I can also not create a new Report and attach any visuals.  The "Data" and "Relationships" tabs work as expected.  When I am on the "Report" tab and click on a visual from the "Visualizations" tab, nothing appears buth the "Visual Tools" menu options show up and are not clickable.  I also cannot create a new page.

I have updated all my boxes, and 2 that use high end graphics cards for Autocad work, running Windows 10 are the culprits causing me heathache... Surface Pro 3, Thinkpad W540 and other machines can launch these reports just fine.

Version: 2.34.4372.501 64-bit (April, 2016)

[ankitpatira]

@cillroy When you say you take your report ( I assume pbix file) to other machines, do those other machines have same version of power bi desktop installed as the original machine you build your report on ? Also if you have imported data from your excel into power bi desktop then you don't need to take excel file with you since data has been imported in power bi desktop (pbix file) and when you take that pbix file elsewhere data is within that file. 

I would start by checking that all machines have same version of power bi desktop ?

[cillroy]

All boxes are using the latest version of powerbi... yes I copy the pbix file between machines

I know the latest builds should no longer be affected by the _classes key in the registry, will attempt that fix today anyways.  I hate to tell my consumers that only certain machines CANNOT view this report on the desktop.

Reference: http://community.powerbi.com/t5/Desktop/Visualizations-not-displaying/m-p/17743#M5114

[cillroy]

No regsitry entries existed.

Turns out that these high end Design laptops cannot render the Visuals when docked.  I had the laptop undock, and the Report started rendering!

I had a Frown sent with "Diagnostics" and Trace Log included while the laptop was docked, hopefully there is some usefull information there.

[Eric_Zhang]

@cillroy

Thanks for your feedback. According to your description it seems an issue, I will report this issue internally and our engineers will evaluate it.

[Vicky_Song]

@cillroy, our senior engineer can't reproduce the same issue when his computer is docked. So, that should not be a specific situation that Power BI Desktop can't render reports correctly on one machine which is on a docking station. The issue you're facing should be related to the GPU rendering and the graphics drivers, or raised when you choose to use the function "Use software rendering instead of GPU rendering*" in IE Advanced setting option. 

I think you need to try different compatible drivers to find the correct one which could render these visuals correctly. 

[cillroy]

These are very specific laptops for running autocad.  By changing the IE settings, does that mean the desktop client uses IE for rendering that graphics?

For now it is easier to just have the end users undock when they use the desktop client.

[Vicky_Song · Accepted solution]

@cillroy, the IE option means whether IE is running in Software Mode. In short words, IE in Software Mode means your PC’s reading with Central Processing Unit (CPU) instead of Graphics Processing Unit (GPU). Please check this blog for the details regarding to IE in Software Mode.

Currently, for your scenario, I agree with you that temporarily undock your computer is a easier solution.